6 December 2010

Counties Fighting to Save Rail Line

Ottawa Ontario - Ottawa Valley politicians want the federal government to put the brakes on a plan that would see Canadian Pacific dismantle and sell off a rail line that runs between Smiths Falls and Mattawa.
 
Stakeholders, including Lanark and Renfrew counties, learned about CP's plan to discontinue the Ottawa Valley Railway between Smiths Falls and Sudbury last January after shortline operator RailAmerica terminated its lease with CP. Prior to that, CP moved its eastbound cross-Canada freight traffic off the OVR to the main line through Toronto, causing the volume of carloads on the OVR to drop dramatically.
 
RailAmerica has since signed a five-year lease agreement to operate the rail line from Sudbury to Mattawa and up to Tamiscaming, but the 167-kilometre line from Mattawa to Smiths Falls remains on the block.
 
Various levels of government each have 30 days to express an interest in buying the line, but if no one steps forward, CP has the green light under federal law to dismantle the line, sell, or remove the steel and trestles. Municipal leaders say if the federal or provincial governments don't step forward, the municipalities, which argue they have the most to lose if the rail line disappears, don't have the resources for such a purchase. The group plans to hold a press conference on Parliament Hill Thursday.
 
Al Lunney, the former mayor of Mississippi Mills, says CP has told him the steel from the rail line is worth about $50 million and could be ripped up and moved out West to be used on rail lines there.
 
But the loss of the direct line from Western Canada to the East hinders future economic development in the Ottawa Valley as it will limit easy access to shipping ports in Montreal and on the East Coast, Lunney said. It also represents a loss of potential for the communities along the line, such as the possibility of developing a tourist train or setting up shortline freight service for the local natural resources and agriculture sectors.
 
"Once those tracks are gone, they are gone forever. Allowing the line to be dismantled may not be felt tomorrow or next year, but it will have a dramatic effect on the future of communities up and down the line," he said, adding the group wants a one-year moratorium on the process to bring the federal, provincial, and local governments to the table to brainstorm potential future uses of the line before CP is allowed to just remove the tracks.
 
"Both Lanark and Renfrew counties and most of (the) residents just do not see the logic in tearing out rail lines in today's world," he said.
 
Mike Lovecchio, a CP spokesman, couldn't say how much the rail line is worth and said it's too soon to speculate about what might be done with it.
 
He noted the discontinuation process under way is mandated by the federal government and is not something CP has any say over.
 
Still, Lovecchio said the company has met with all the communities that would be affected to explain the process and lay out the options, such as operating the track as a rail line or buying the land to protect it for use as a future rail line.
 
"They've had lots of time to get familiar with their options and to make decisions about how they want to approach it," he said.
 
Lunney said municipalities are also concerned about who will be responsible for the "unholy mess" of rail bridges, crossings, and trestles left behind if the rail line is mothballed, as well as increased road congestion if transport trucks have to be used in place of freight trains.
 
The move could also effect operations at CFB Petawawa, which currently uses the line to transport fuel and equipment.
 
Base commander Lt.-Col. Keith Rudderham was quoted in a local newspaper saying the move would cost the base more time and money. "It's not our life line by any means," he told the Eganville Leader.
 
"It's not a show-stopper for anything we do or plan to do, but it will be a major frustration and it will be a big cost issue."
 
Matthew Pearson.